DNA results in Walker murders expected in days

Published: Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 2:26 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 5:32 p.m.

In just eight to 10 days, DNA from a pair of notorious killers finally could solve the 1959 case of Osprey's slain Walker family, which for decades has tormented loved ones, vexed Sarasota County law enforcement and rekindled interest in one of the most infamous American murders of the 20th century.

Or it could send detectives back to the drawing board.

Last December, the bodies of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, murderers profiled in Truman Capote's nonfiction work "In Cold Blood," were exhumed from a graveyard in Kansas to extract their DNA.

The men were executed for the November 1959 murder of the Clutter family of four, who were shot to death in their remote farmhouse in Holcomb, Kan.

For the past four months, people here have waited with growing impatience to see if the killers' DNA will match that taken from the Walker family's equally gruesome crime scene, found by an unwitting friend in their remote ranch house just one month after the Clutter murders.

So far, no one knows who shot ranch hand Cliff Walker, 25, the quiet type; his wife, Christine, 24, known for her sweet disposition and high spirits; Jimmie, 3, the spitting image of his dad; and curly-top Debbie, not quite 2. All died of their wounds but Debbie, who was held under water in the family bathtub until she drowned.

Christine Walker also was beaten and raped by her killer, who left traces of DNA on her underwear.

Technicians for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are working to glean viable DNA from the bones and possibly the teeth of the men at the request of Sarasota County cold-case detectives.

"This will give us the resolution we've been looking for or will give us the direction we need to go next," said Wendy Rose, spokeswoman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

So far, KBI technicians have one partial DNA profile, but hope to get full profiles of Hickock and Smith, whose names still evoke images of the most heinous of sociopaths. "In Cold Blood," Truman Capote's literary masterwork, and a 1967, black-and-white movie thriller of the same name, sealed their ignominious legacy.

DNA can continue to exist in bones and teeth for hundreds of years if conditions are favorable, experts say.

Although partial profiles are accepted as confirmation of guilt in a number of states, a full profile is preferred.

"It depends on the DNA sample to know if a partial will be enough," said Kyle Smith, deputy director of the KBI. He was unable to say what part of the body contained the DNA, or from which man it was taken.

Pat Myers, 62, half-brother of Christine, said Thursday he is ready to finally know who did it.

"Every time I talk to the detectives, they say no news is good news," Myers said, taking a break from serving the lunch crowd at his restaurant, Pat's Bar-B-Que, in Lake Placid.

If Smith and Hickock are implicated, it will clear the name of Christine once and for all, he said. Some in the small town of Arcadia, where Cliff and Christine grew up, gossiped that the young wife had an affair that might have led a jealous lover to kill the family.

That's bunk, he said, describing her as a sweet person, devoted to her husband and children. Family members never bought the idea that Christine was friendly with her assailant, they have said.

"Maybe this will finally be the answer we've been waiting for," Myers said.

Cindy Walker of Arcadia said remaining family members from the Walker side also have waited for decades to find out what happened, some of them for vindication. Some members of the family were considered suspects until DNA testing in 2005 proved their innocence.

"It's been tough on my husband and his uncles," she said Thursday. She is married to Cliff Walker's nephew and namesake, who goes by the nickname "Windy."

"I'll be happy to finally know one way or the other if it was the same men who killed the Clutters," she said.

More than 600 people through the years have been investigated as suspects in the Walker slaying.

Documents and statements from Smith and Hickock prove they drove a stolen car to Tallahassee and Miami while on the run after the Clutter murders. They denied killing the Walkers.

In early 1960, after the Sarasota News ran a photo of the two asking if anyone had spotted them in the area, several witness said they were in town in the days around the Walker slaying.

Smith and Hickock were ruled out at the time based on fingerprint and polygraph evidence, but in recent years, cold-case detectives in Sarasota have determined that this evidence was unreliable.

Some family members have said no matter what the DNA results show, coincidences in the two murder cases lead them to believe Hickock and Smith were to blame.

EARLIER: After four tantalizing months of waiting — added to the previous 53 long years of mystery — DNA results that could link the unsolved Walker family slaying in Osprey to the notorious killers from “In Cold Blood” could be ready in eight to 10 days.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation Thursday confirmed that its DNA analysts are within days of determining if Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were the ones who, on Dec. 19, 1959, shot Cliff Walker, 25, his wife, Christine, 24, and their children Jimmie, 3, and Debbie, 23 months. Debbie was drowned in the family bathtub.

Christine Walker also was beaten and raped by her killer, who left his DNA on her underwear.

Last December, the bodies of Hickock and Smith were exhumed from a Kansas cemetery near the prison where they were executed for the murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas.

DNA can continue to exist in bones and teeth for hundreds of years, if conditions are favorable, experts say.

"We've got a partial profile," said KBI Deputy Director Kyle Smith. "We're hoping to get a full profile."

Pat Myers, 62, half-brother of Christine, said Thursday he is ready to know.

“Every time I talk to the detectives, they say no news is good news,” Myers said, taking a break from serving the lunch crowd at his restaurant, Pat's Bar-B-Que, in Lake Placid.

“Maybe this will finally be the answer we've been waiting for,” he said.

More than 600 people through the years have been investigated as suspects in the Walker slaying. Smith and Hickock, who journeyed to Florida after the Clutter murders, were spotted by witnesses in the Sarasota area around the time of the Osprey slaying.

The men were ruled out at the time based on fingerprint and polygraph evidence, but in recent years, cold-case detectives in Sarasota County have determined that the evidence was unreliable.

Other family members have said no matter what the results, they will continue to believe that Hickock and Smith were to blame.

Cindy Walker of Arcadia, where Christine and Chris grew up, met and married, said her side of the family has waited for years to find out what happened. Some members of the family were considered suspects until DNA testing in 2005 proved their innocence.

“It's been tough on my husband and his uncles,” she said Thursday. She is married to Cliff Walker's nephew and namesake. “I'll be happy to finally know one way or the other if it was the same men who killed the Clutters.”

<p>In just eight to 10 days, DNA from a pair of notorious killers finally could solve the 1959 case of Osprey's slain Walker family, which for decades has tormented loved ones, vexed Sarasota County law enforcement and rekindled interest in one of the most infamous American murders of the 20th century.</p><p>Or it could send detectives back to the drawing board.</p><p>Last December, the bodies of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, murderers profiled in Truman Capote's nonfiction work "In Cold Blood," were exhumed from a graveyard in Kansas to extract their DNA.</p><p>The men were executed for the November 1959 murder of the Clutter family of four, who were shot to death in their remote farmhouse in Holcomb, Kan.</p><p>For the past four months, people here have waited with growing impatience to see if the killers' DNA will match that taken from the Walker family's equally gruesome crime scene, found by an unwitting friend in their remote ranch house just one month after the Clutter murders.</p><p>So far, no one knows who shot ranch hand Cliff Walker, 25, the quiet type; his wife, Christine, 24, known for her sweet disposition and high spirits; Jimmie, 3, the spitting image of his dad; and curly-top Debbie, not quite 2. All died of their wounds but Debbie, who was held under water in the family bathtub until she drowned.</p><p>Christine Walker also was beaten and raped by her killer, who left traces of DNA on her underwear.</p><p>Technicians for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are working to glean viable DNA from the bones and possibly the teeth of the men at the request of Sarasota County cold-case detectives.</p><p>"This will give us the resolution we've been looking for or will give us the direction we need to go next," said Wendy Rose, spokeswoman for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.</p><p>So far, KBI technicians have one partial DNA profile, but hope to get full profiles of Hickock and Smith, whose names still evoke images of the most heinous of sociopaths. "In Cold Blood," Truman Capote's literary masterwork, and a 1967, black-and-white movie thriller of the same name, sealed their ignominious legacy. </p><p>DNA can continue to exist in bones and teeth for hundreds of years if conditions are favorable, experts say. </p><p>Although partial profiles are accepted as confirmation of guilt in a number of states, a full profile is preferred.</p><p>"It depends on the DNA sample to know if a partial will be enough," said Kyle Smith, deputy director of the KBI. He was unable to say what part of the body contained the DNA, or from which man it was taken.</p><p>Pat Myers, 62, half-brother of Christine, said Thursday he is ready to finally know who did it.</p><p>"Every time I talk to the detectives, they say no news is good news," Myers said, taking a break from serving the lunch crowd at his restaurant, Pat's Bar-B-Que, in Lake Placid. </p><p>If Smith and Hickock are implicated, it will clear the name of Christine once and for all, he said. Some in the small town of Arcadia, where Cliff and Christine grew up, gossiped that the young wife had an affair that might have led a jealous lover to kill the family.</p><p>That's bunk, he said, describing her as a sweet person, devoted to her husband and children. Family members never bought the idea that Christine was friendly with her assailant, they have said.</p><p>"Maybe this will finally be the answer we've been waiting for," Myers said.</p><p>Cindy Walker of Arcadia said remaining family members from the Walker side also have waited for decades to find out what happened, some of them for vindication. Some members of the family were considered suspects until DNA testing in 2005 proved their innocence.</p><p>"It's been tough on my husband and his uncles," she said Thursday. She is married to Cliff Walker's nephew and namesake, who goes by the nickname "Windy."</p><p>"I'll be happy to finally know one way or the other if it was the same men who killed the Clutters," she said.</p><p>More than 600 people through the years have been investigated as suspects in the Walker slaying.</p><p>Documents and statements from Smith and Hickock prove they drove a stolen car to Tallahassee and Miami while on the run after the Clutter murders. They denied killing the Walkers.</p><p>In early 1960, after the Sarasota News ran a photo of the two asking if anyone had spotted them in the area, several witness said they were in town in the days around the Walker slaying.</p><p>Smith and Hickock were ruled out at the time based on fingerprint and polygraph evidence, but in recent years, cold-case detectives in Sarasota have determined that this evidence was unreliable.</p><p>Some family members have said no matter what the DNA results show, coincidences in the two murder cases lead them to believe Hickock and Smith were to blame.</p><p>EARLIER: After four tantalizing months of waiting — added to the previous 53 long years of mystery — DNA results that could link the unsolved Walker family slaying in Osprey to the notorious killers from “In Cold Blood” could be ready in eight to 10 days.</p><p>The Kansas Bureau of Investigation Thursday confirmed that its DNA analysts are within days of determining if Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were the ones who, on Dec. 19, 1959, shot Cliff Walker, 25, his wife, Christine, 24, and their children Jimmie, 3, and Debbie, 23 months. Debbie was drowned in the family bathtub.</p><p>Christine Walker also was beaten and raped by her killer, who left his DNA on her underwear.</p><p>Last December, the bodies of Hickock and Smith were exhumed from a Kansas cemetery near the prison where they were executed for the murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas.</p><p>DNA can continue to exist in bones and teeth for hundreds of years, if conditions are favorable, experts say. </p><p>"We've got a partial profile," said KBI Deputy Director Kyle Smith. "We're hoping to get a full profile."</p><p>Pat Myers, 62, half-brother of Christine, said Thursday he is ready to know.</p><p>“Every time I talk to the detectives, they say no news is good news,” Myers said, taking a break from serving the lunch crowd at his restaurant, Pat's Bar-B-Que, in Lake Placid. </p><p>“Maybe this will finally be the answer we've been waiting for,” he said.</p><p>More than 600 people through the years have been investigated as suspects in the Walker slaying. Smith and Hickock, who journeyed to Florida after the Clutter murders, were spotted by witnesses in the Sarasota area around the time of the Osprey slaying.</p><p>The men were ruled out at the time based on fingerprint and polygraph evidence, but in recent years, cold-case detectives in Sarasota County have determined that the evidence was unreliable.</p><p>Other family members have said no matter what the results, they will continue to believe that Hickock and Smith were to blame.</p><p>Cindy Walker of Arcadia, where Christine and Chris grew up, met and married, said her side of the family has waited for years to find out what happened. Some members of the family were considered suspects until DNA testing in 2005 proved their innocence.</p><p>“It's been tough on my husband and his uncles,” she said Thursday. She is married to Cliff Walker's nephew and namesake. “I'll be happy to finally know one way or the other if it was the same men who killed the Clutters.”</p><p></p><p><i>Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.</i></p>